Aftermath
by Kesiah
Summary: Set post Jak II, Jak is having to come to terms with things in his life he took for granted, while Daxter is hiding a secret of his own. The duo must confont their own problems, but even though the Metalhead leader is dead, is the city truely safe? Yaoi!
1. chapter 1

Aftermath 

Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Yes, it's here. You can put away your lawyers now. 

Notes & Dedication: An absolutely HUGE thanks go to Demyrie, who was really, really nice and patient and took time out from her own (awesome) art and writing to beta this for me! ^.^ I luff you Demz!! And this chapter is for you!! Speaking of this chapter, I would also like to say that I am actually really happy with this, even if my current efforts with chapter 2 are irritating me, chapter 1 is good. I like it, and it was fun to write, and I hope all of you like it too! ^.^

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Jak sighed. It felt good, not having to do any missions, not having to worry about the city, or the Underground, or if he was ever going to get home again... But then, he was home, wasn't he? He still needed to get used to that idea. In his mind, Sandover Village was a beacon, a beacon of safety, belonging and warmth, a home- nothing like Haven City. 

If anything, Haven was marked as the complete opposite in Jak's mind. Part of him knew that he would never be able to shake the ever-present feeling of danger he instinctively associated with the cramped city. But then again, two years in prison and living as a wanted man every second after that would do that to a guy. 

As for belonging... Jak glanced up and met the gaze of a young woman, a few seats down from him. As he predicted, her eyes widened and she went hurriedly back to her meal. She was probably finishing up quickly and getting ready to leave, just in case the city's hero went insane and started killing people. Hmf. He snorted bitterly. 

Having the Baron spreading rumors about you, more specifically, about the effect of Dark Eco on you, would do that too. While Jak knew he was no longer in danger of going insane or whatever people seemed to believe, the chances of explaining that to your average citizen were about as good as the chances of Krew deciding to take up exercise. 

Not that Krew was around anymore anyway... 

But he was supposed to be relaxing. He had just finished saving the city, battling the Metalhead Leader and learning things about himself he had never known. Everyone seemed to agree that Jak should be resting. 

So that's what he was trying to do. Rest. 

.As soon as he remembered how. 

Jak kicked his feet up and leaned back, determined that if he couldn't relax, he would at least -look- like he was relaxing. Though, if pressed, he could always claim that the noise in the Naughty Ottsel was stopping him from loosening up properly. 

A kid ran past his booth, screaming at the top of his lungs while an older sibling chased him, pretending to be a Metalhead. 

'The people have a right to celebrate,' Jak told himself, 'After all, the Metalheads no longer threaten the city, the Baron is gone, and Ashelin released all the prisoners back to their families. They need to celebrate- their world has been turned upside-down from all these changes, and they don't know what to do...' 

It didn't make him any happier with the noise. 

He was resting. He was calm, collected, relaxing and taking a weight off his body and mind. He was. Really. 

------

Daxter surveyed Jak from his position behind the bar. The revelry wasn't really bothering him- he had employees to take care of any messes or problems, or any other untasteful thing that came up. Even if the Naughty Ottsel was bursting at the seams as most of the city attempted to fit inside..... 

'I'll need a bigger place if this keeps up.' Daxter mused, eyeing the mounted head of Metal Kor. The huge plaque was the one thing that dragged so many people in- they needed to see the proof with their own eyes. 

Jak. troubled him. Daxter had noticed that Jak seemed. restless, now that they had fulfilled their 'destiny'. That was another little thing that reminded him of the old Jak. The Jak that he had known before the Baron had sunk his claws into the young man and ripped out his soul... 

Daxter shook his head. "Gettin' a tad bit ahead of ourselves there." he muttered. 

But still, the old Jak, the Jak he had grown up with in Sandover Village, had known how to relax. Sure, he was always looking for new things to do or see, but he was also more than happy to lie back with Daxter and watch the cloud patterns in the sky. 

Did Jak even look at the sky anymore? 

Too much had changed, too fast. Daxter felt distant from him- there was a part of Jak that he didn't know, that he couldn't see, and that Jak would not show him. 

Before.... before, well, -everything-, maybe even before that stupid trip to Misty Island, Daxter thought he might have been distant from Jak even then. He hadn't realized it as much, but everyone in Sandover had known Jak. Jak was strong, fast, agile, brave and intelligent- every good quality you cared to name was instantly attributed to Jak. 'Even if he didn't possess them.' Daxter thought bitterly. 

And then there had been him. 

No one needed to tell Daxter what they saw when they looked at him- he knew it for himself. All they saw was short, scrawny, clumsy, and his huge front teeth. Daxter figured the only reason he'd gotten noticed at all was because he was with Jak, because Jak needed him. Needed his voice. 

With that thought, Daxter smiled, still watching Jak from across the room. No one had understood him, or become as close to him as Jak had. While the adults treated Daxter as an irritation, Jak treated him with genuine friendship and kindness. Where everyone else saw his bad qualities, Jak saw the good ones. Daxter could get Jak to laugh- albeit silently, but it was still laughter. 

Daxter watched as Jak's eyes slipped shut, head tilting a little to the side. 

It made him think of something else.... 

He'd heard Jak speak, for the very first time, even before Haven. When Daxter thought about it, he didn't think Jak remembered, or had even realized it at the time- but Daxter had. The first time he had heard Jak's voice, a perfect moment no one could ever take away from him. 

Daxter stared vacantly across the room at Jak, letting the memory play out. 

Ironically, they had been doing the fisherman's work, catching 200 pounds of fish for the lazy, over-weight.... Anyway. They, well, Jak, had been working so hard to catch the fish, concentrating on the task, and it had happened. Daxter had been watching Jak's progress, seated next to his head, when he had heard Jak mumble something. 

"Almost there." 

Jak had spoken. 

But he never did it again. Daxter thought Jak must not have realized it, but the moment was etched in his memory forever. The first sound of Jak's voice had been solely for him. 

------

Jak watched the distracted Ottsel from under all-but-closed lids. Daxter had definately been watching him for way too long now. He obviously wasn't buying the 'I'm relaxing' pose. He stretched and rose, deciding a decent drink just might help him to relax, but was forced to jump aside as the boys rolled past again, this time wrestling. Each was insisting that the other was Metal Kor, while they got to be Jak. Judging from their brief glances, Jak figured neither of them knew that -he- was Jak, and that it was probably better that way. 

"Hey Dax, what's up?" he asked, approaching the bar. Daxter jumped, and Jak thought he saw a guilty look flit across his face, but he had probably imagined it. 

"Uhhh, nothin' important, Jak." Daxter said. 

"Uh-huh." 

"Really! I was just, uhhh, thinkin' about why you don't wanna be. well, you know..." 

Jak placed a hand on the Ottsel's shoulder. "C'mon Dax, what's bothering you? You can talk to me." 

Daxter looked a little nervous. "Alright. But not here, lets go out back..." 

Outside, Jak wrinkled his nose at the stench of the 'Drunk' toilet, where the drunks were sent to do... whatever drunks did. 

"This had better be good Dax, it reeks out here." 

"Yeah." 

'Hmmm... No cracks about the sewers- Daxter's really worried about something.' Jak thought as he feigned un-interest. 

"Uhh... Jak?" 

"Still here." 

Daxter seemed awfully twitchy on Jak's shoulder. 

"Why don't you, well, you know..." 

Jak waited. 

"Why. Why don't you wanna be, well. king?" 

Jak stared. Of all the things he could have guessed, this hadn't been one of them. A million responses whirled through his mind- it was crazy, unheard of, would never happen.... 

"Jak? Jaaaak?! Jak!" 

"King? ME? Daxter, you've gotta be joking." he said, still in shock. 

"Well, I dunno if they call it 'King' or if it's 'Baron', but... Well, they were talking about the Kid, you, as Mar's heir, and being on the throne and all, so I figured..." 

Jak gently silenced him by placing a finger on his lips. 

"Daxter, I couldn't be King or Baron or. anything. I don't know the first thing about ruling a city, and I don't want to. Plus we'd have to find a way to explain to Ashelin and Torn and the others why I -should- be king. Ashelin may have believed we're from the past, but I don't think she'll take to the idea that I'm Mar's heir as well." he said. "Anyway, I think I'd die of boredom with a job like that." 

Daxter seemed to relax. 'That -can't- have been all that was bothering him! Did he really think I'd do something like that? Just leave him, like I never knew he existed?' Jak thought, still watching his friend. 

"Well, we'd, uhh, best get inside, right Jak? I mean, Keira will be waiting and all...." Daxter said, though he still sounded nervous. Jak nodded, though he was somewhat puzzled by his friend's odd behaviour, he could let it slide. For now. He turned back towards the flood of noise and light eminating from the Naughty Ottsel. 

...Keira. He'd need to talk to her... 

------

The Naughty Ottsel was still as busy as it had been before they left. Crowds of people were staring up at the huge Metalhead trophies, ordering drinks or meals and generally getting in each other's way. Daxter was greatful that Sig had agreed to hang around- the presence of the large Wastelander often convinced would-be brawlers to consider their actions before trying anything. 

Jak scanned the area rapidly with a practiced ease, quietly noting escape routes, good places to get cover from enemy fire, and where he could get the best weapon coverage of the room. 

Old habits died hard. 

Still, they had their uses. Jak easily picked out Keira in the crowd and made his way over to her, paying little attention when Daxter leapt from his shoulder, mumbling something about seeing Tess. 

"Keira," Jak said. She turned and looked up at him, the slightest tinge of blush shading her cheekbones. 

"Jak, I was... looking for you." 

"Well, you found me." He looked down and smiled. Keira was struck by that smile, it was... different from before. It lacked the total innocence and naivity that she had fallen for in Sandover Village, but... there was power in that smile. While Jak's innocence and freedom had won her, his current determination to carry on regardless, and his fierce loyalty that had been tempered and harded during their time in Haven City, would keep her with him. 

She felt safe and cared for, just from a smile. 

Keira smiled back, tears collecting in her eyes. In this strange city, which she still was not used to, Jak's smile promised to protect and nurture her- and that wordless assurance was more than enough. 

"Jak... can we. go outside? Just for a bit. Please?" He looked a little confused, but agreed, taking her hand and gently leading her through the crowd and into the night. 

------

"Hey there Sugar! How're you doin'?" Daxter called, almost drowned out by the sounds of drunks attempting to get drunker, or catch the attention of the attractive blonde behind the bar. He leapt lightly from Jak's shoulder, easily clearing the heads of the crowd, and landed beside her. Tess turned and treated him to one of her coy smiles. 

"Oh you know..." she said, gesturing over the crowded bar. 

"You got a minute, sweet-cakes? 'Cos you know what I need..." Daxter said, winking suggestively. Bawdy cries and lewd comments followed the pair to a chosen corner, where the room could easily be surveyed. 

"What's wrong, Daxter?" Tess asked immediately. She leaned in a little, keeping her voice low and her posture flirtatious. Daxter sighed, but was also careful to look as though he were flirting with Tess. All he could say was; "It's Jak." 

Tess nodded. Their strange relationship, more of a partnership, had begun some time ago. Daxter still remembered the meeting- it had been after he and Jak had done that money collecting job for Krew. Jak had been resting, but Daxter was disturbingly alert, probably from the coffee he'd drunk in an attempt to sober up, and regretting his attempts to drink the Hip Hog dry. Considering the amount of alcohol he'd drunk, coupled with Jak's driving skills, it was a small miracle he'd had enough -room- for all that coffee. Though, considering how long he'd spent in the bathroom when they got back, maybe it wasn't. Still, that meeting with Tess hadn't faded from his mind, even if the rest of the night -had- been a hyperactive semi-drunken blur. 

"Daxter? Your name is Daxter, right?" Tess had said, approaching him hesitantly. 

"Hey baby! Yeah, I'm Daxter... Excited?" He remembered that he'd looked at her breasts a lot. Probably more than he needed to at the time... The coffee and alcohol had been a really bad idea. 

"Actually, I wanted to know if I could help you." 

He'd been confused at that, most likely because he'd been the one drinking, not her, so -he- should have been the one offering to.... Though her next words, while dispelling his initial ideas, didn't cause any sudden bursts of understanding. 

"I see the way you look at him... the way you try to hide it by flirting with all the girls." 

"What're you on about?" 

She'd started fidgeting, though he remembered she'd also kept a close eye on him, they both knew he wasn't going to like the next part. 

"You like Jak, don't you? ....More than friends." she'd blurted out, it had taken a few moments for him to understand, but for once, he'd been unable to answer. His collection of snappy lines and dialogue had deserted him. He could have taken anything else, called everything about himself a lie, but for that one little thing. 

"How... did..." 

"Well. it was a big help when you got drunk earlier." she'd smiled. "I'm pretty sure Jak was distracted by Krew, and probably thought it was just because you were such good friends.. But I remembered how you looked at him, even when you were sober, and I ...figured it out." 

He'd been afraid then. How many others knew? Was he so obvious? What could he do? 

And so, they had worked together, building a facade of romance, something that passed enough as a relationship to fool anyone else, hiding his secret. Though there were unexpected benefits, Tess, he had found, was often there to console him, when he couldn't confide in Jak. Her counsel had always helped him, even if it was just a little. It meant he didn't have to bear the pain of his supressed emotions alone. 

"It's Jak." he began again, "I..I don't want him and Keira to... I know it's wrong, but I want him to myself! I know I should be happy that he's happy, but all I can think of is that he should be.well, mine!" 

Tess sat patiently, Daxter needed her to listen now, not to judge, and she knew the least she could do was to allow Daxter to vent everything he'd kept buried away inside, to allow the words to come tumbling out, strung together with uncertain phrases, carrying an undercurrent of powerful emotions. 

"I mean, does Keira really apreciate him? Jak and I have stuck through thick and thin together, so why's it gotta be her?! What did she ever do for him?! What can she give him that I can't?!" Daxter heaved a breath that was almost a sob, as a terrible sense of loneliness swept over him. 

"...why doesn't he see me?" 

"Daxter.... I wish I knew what to say... to fix everything... but I just... I can't... I'm so sorry.... please just... Daxter..? Daxter?!" 

Her words were cut off as Daxter leapt from the table and fled. 

"Daxter! Wait!!" Tess called. "It doesn't have to be like this..." She looked around, suddenly aware of all eyes on her. 

"Lover's spat, sweet thing?" a voice called. 

Tess smiled sadly at the irony of that sentence. 

"Something like that..." 

------

Jak looked up at the pregnant moon, it seemed to radiate light and hope- a new beginning for the city. Who knew, maybe he would come to like this place... 

"It's beautiful, isn't it Jak?" Keira murmured, her arms gently encircling one of his own. "It reminds me of home." 

"Some things never change..." Jak said, scanning the night sky. The smog obscured the stars, hiding the perfect view that Sandover Village had once boasted. "....and some things do...." 

Keira tightened her grip at hearing the catch in his voice. "Not everything changes for the bad Jak," she said, "Some changes are good." 

He looked at her. "That's what you wanted to talk about? Change?" 

"Well, sort of." She took a deep breath. If she did not speak now, the chance to do so may never return. "I'm scared, Jak. Scared of this place, scared that I don't know what to do, or how to act. I'm scared that things might change again, that they might get worse. I... I'm scared of .you, Jak. I don't know you like I used to- sometimes it feels like you're the same person I grew up with, but other times... You. You've never enjoyed killing before." 

"Those were Metalheads, you know as well as I that they deserved to die!" 

She let go of his arm, he was getting angry, and she looked... scared. Terrified. That fact made him stop, made him calm down. It hurt, more than anything, to see someone he was so close to look at him with such fear. Even Keira thought that he might lose it at any moment. 

That he might hurt her. 

"Jak," the fear in her voice was obvious even to her. "Jak, I know how you feel about the Metalheads, but the Guards- did they deserve the same? Can you really tell yourself that they deserved to die?" 

Her words stung him. She didn't understand what he had given up, what he had been -forced- to give up, to save everyone. The things he had been given no choice about. The blood that stained him and haunted his dreams. 

He glared at her, "Did you ever give Erol this talk?" he said, his tone harsher than normal. "Were you as hard on him? Or was he just too 'perfect' to you?" He was taking his anger out on her- he knew it, but he did it anyway. 

Keira drew back, as fear and hurt waged a battle across her delicate features. "Jak, you know it's not like that! I... I love you, really I do, but. I'm afraid of you at the same time. I know you wouldn't hurt me," She took a step closer and touched his arm to show this. "I just don't want to see you get hurt again.... I don't want you to have to kill." 

"Keira, I... I only want to protect you, to protect everyone I love. What's wrong with that? Anyway, the Guards won't cause us any more problems- not now that Torn is Commander again, and Ashelin is Govener." He was reassuring himself as much as her. 

"I know, it's just... I'm so confused! Jak!" 

He wasn't prepared for her desperate embrace, and even less for the longing kiss that followed. She'd been so afraid, so lost, that she'd turned to the one thing she could still pin her hopes and dreams to. The one thing that might make everything all right, that would turn things back to normal. She pulled back enough to whisper; "I need you Jak... I want to forget everything, even if it's just for a little while." before reclaiming his lips. 

And Jak, his arms full and his attention distracted, failed to notice a small orange form hiding in the shadows, unable to tear it's eyes from the scene before it. 

-----------------------

Extra random note: I now have a DeviantART page! You can find it 

And it has all of my combined works there, including some nice Jak/Daxter ones. Go look, please? I'll give you another chapter~... ^.^

  
  



	2. chapter 2

Chapter 2

*cough* I _had_ planned to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, but I forgot to save the reviews, and I didn't get to do it online. *sweatdrops* I'll just do everyone for this and the last one next time. 

Major thankies go to everyone who also took the time to visit my deviantART page, locatable at: 

which also features a range of my artworks, and a majority of them being Jak and Daxter related. 

This chapter is dedicated to EtherealShadow who is now my secondary (something like that) beta-reader. ^^ 

-----

Keira felt herself melting into Jak, the heat where her lips met his, where their bodies touched, it felt like electricity to her, invigorating and addictive. She wanted so much more. She wanted everything that was him. Everything that was Jak, she would make her own. Without even realizing, her arms had entwined around his body, pulling him closer, desperately wanting to feel a response to her own physical sensations. 

It all seemed so very perfect in her mind, and wasn't it supposed to be? Didn't she have the right to her most perfect first kiss, a moment every girl knew was supposed to be magical? And it was.... 

How could it not be? The full moon, romantic and dramatic, shining down on them, clouds scudding across its silvery surface... In her mind's eye, the luminous orb would gently light the area with an ethereal quality, illuminating herself and Jak in their passion-filled kiss. It would look absolutely perfect, every detail arranged just right. Jak would then realize that there was a chill to the air, and would wrap his arms around her and hold her so very close, and she'd be safe and warm and she'd never have to leave again.... 

Why wasn't Jak holding her? 

Keira broke off the perfect scene in her head and returned to the one currently surrounding her, where the night was indeed cold, but Jak did not hold her close. All he did was stand there as she was kissing him and.... _he wasn't kissing back_. 

She stopped, opened her eyes and stared up him, wanting to see the passion she felt reflected in those beautiful orbs, and only finding reluctance. She fell away from him, the oh-so-perfect vision in her mind shattering into a thousand million pieces with a crash that echoed in the depths of her soul. He hadn't accepted her kiss. He didn't want her love. There was no wonderful moment of love realized, there was no passion-filled embrace, there was only Jak, standing there, with regret and sympathy in his expression. 

"I'm sorry..." he said. 

She wanted to scream, wanted to yell and cry and throw things and make him realize how much he had hurt her.... with just those two small words. 

'Who would have thought words could... hurt so much.... so very much.' It was all she could do not to cry, and it was the hardest thing ever for her to turn her back on him. 

"Keira...." 

"Dont. Please don't, Jak. I can't.... it hurts... Just... leave me alone. I... my father... he's inside..." She turned and headed back towards the Naughty Ottsel, praying for the strength to hold in her tears, wishing she'd never said those stupid things, never tried to kiss him. At least then, she could have gone on living with her dreams, the too-perfect dreams she had built in her mind. The shattered hopes and wishes. 

'Why did you hurt me so much?' 

------

A cold wind whipped around Jak, tousling his slicked-back hair while distant thunder heralded the approach of a storm. It seemed ironic. A storm, turbulent and unpredictable. It matched his emotions perfectly. 

Slowly, Jak raised his hand, fingertips exploring his lips, gliding over the skin. What had happened? He knew that Keira had kissed him; his lips and body still tingled faintly with remembered warmth, but... 

He hadn't felt anything. Keira had kissed him, and he thought she had felt _something_ for him, whether it was love or not, he couldn't tell, but she had at least felt _something_! While he had stood there, and felt nothing. Sure, his _body_ had felt the contact, felt the warmth and tactile sensations, but emotionally? Nothing. There had been no sudden bursts of love, no wanting to be with her, to hold her. There was nothing but faint surprise. 

"Is there something wrong with me?" Jak wondered aloud. 

He was in love with Keira, wasn't he? Even before he'd started to fulfill his 'destiny', before the visit to Misty Island, everyone had taken it as given that he and Keira would marry someday. They'd always been a little attracted to each other.... 

'Puppy Love,' a small part of his mind whispered. 

... and so it had been _presumed_.... 

Why? Had he really been that blind that he hadn't seen that maybe all his emotions for Keira were... lies? Had he been creating his own fantasies? Living in a world in which it had been taken for granted who he would eventually spend the rest of his life with? 

The rest of his life.... 

Could he have spent it with her? Now that he had finally kissed Keira, and discovered his 'feelings' for her, could he really see himself settling down with her? Had he ever really believed that it would happen like that? 

No. 

He could never 'settle down'. Never resign himself to the prison of a boring job, coming home to a perfect wife, playing with his perfect children, and always, constantly itching at the back of his mind, the thought that this was a cage; a place to rot away, a boring routine, day after day after day. It would never change, and he would die a boring little death while no one could be bothered to remember who he was... 

"NO!" Jak stopped the thoughts. That wasn't his future, he could never go down that path. How could he? How could anyone resign themselves to such a boring little humdrum life when there was so much they could do?! 

He had kissed Keira, and he had felt nothing except for regret, regret for not feeling what she had wanted him to. He could not settle back into his old life, not now, not ever. Strangely, the thought didn't really bother him. 

Maybe it was better this way. Keira was a friend, a very good friend, but still a friend and only a friend. How could he let her think he loved her, now that he knew he did not? Could he really do that, when for all he knew he could die at any moment, either at the hands of a Metalhead or through foolish fate. The pain it would cause Keira... He didn't want to cause anything like that. 

'But I already have...' Jak thought. The pain on her face as she turned away... those words... it had stunned him, and his own thoughts and emotions had confused him, but now he remembered the pain on her face, and how he had treated her. 

It had to be fixed. 

------

A cold and unfeeling moon shone down on the rooftops of Haven City while faint stars glittered as pin-pricks in the smog that hid the skies and storm clouds quickly moved in to hide the remainder of the celestial ceiling. 

Daxter could not see the sights above him, though he lay directly below them, stretched across the rooftop that once shielded the Underground's headquarters from the heavens. His eyes did not take in the moon, nor the clouds moving rapidly across the sky. Instead, his vision was turned inwards, replaying the scene that had driven him here. Jak and Keira, locked together in a desperate embrace, while his ears recalled the words she had said: 

"I need you Jak... I want to forget everything, even if it's just for a little while." 

'I need you Jak...' 

Again. 

'I need you Jak...' 

And again, over and over. Countless times the words tumbled and merged, spinning around his head and forcing him to relive that single moment again and again and again.... 

"But I need him too..." Daxter whispered to the black sky, choked by the lump that had formed in his throat. "I've done everything for him, we've been through so much... I just want something from him... anything..." 

A smile, a word of thanks, even just the sound of his name, all of those tiny things, things Jak did without a second thought, things Daxter would cling to, play over and over again, creating a little dream world in his mind. Always locking out the niggling voice that suggested that Jak did not feel the same for him. 

Well now he knew, didn't he? 

He'd just had to follow Jak, had to pick that exact moment to tell him, that exact moment to walk out there and see... 

The scene played again. 

'I need you Jak...' 

"Why _her_? What's so freaking _special_ about her?! What has she done that makes her sooo good?! All she ever did was mess around with all that stupid Precursor crap and get us into trouble! If it wasn't for _her_, then we wouldn't even be here! But noooo, she just _had_ to know what that stupid ring did! She just _had_ to take Jak with her! It's all _her_ fault that Jak wound up in prison, it's _her_ fault, and she didn't even _try_ to rescue him! Noooo! _I_ did it! ME! So why does _she_ get to be so special?! It's NOT FAIR!!" he raged, kicking bits of old tile and rocks off the building. 

The skies opened up and poured rain, instantly soaking the ottsel, and somewhat cooling his temper. Only a little though. 

"I bet he won't even _notice_ if I never go back! And anyway, he'll have _her_ to make sure he doesn't need _me_. After all, no one needs or wants an ottsel around, do they?! I could die out here, and they probably wouldn't notice!" He paused for breath and huddled a little closer in on himself as the rain continued to pelt down. 

'Surely though,' a part of him said, 'Jak will come looking for me, with this weather.' 

He thought about this. Yes... Jak would probably notice he wasn't in the Naughty Ottsel, and come looking for him. He'd be found, Jak would be worried a little that he might have caught a cold, and offer to let him share the warmth of Jak's neck scarf, and they'd go back, and have a hot drink by a fire and talk. Just like old times... 

The thought brought back memories of Sandover Village, and the heavy tropical downpours they had gotten there. Vertical walls of water. Most of the time the two of them had found themselves caught in the rain when it had started, and would have to spend an afternoon drying by a fire, just talking.... 'Well,' Daxter thought, 'I talked. He'd just listen...' 

Jak had always been a good listener, though lately Daxter was beginning to wonder if he sometimes only heard what was said, not what was implied… 

....He was really getting wet now... 

Maybe it would be a good idea to head back to the Naughty Ottsel. Daxter started towards the stack of boxes he'd used to ascend to his perch, when he noticed something. It was a zoomer, close to the ground and moving slowly as the occupant appeared to be... searching. He didn't even need to check anything else, Daxter _knew_ who it was, as surely as he knew his own name. The boxes were slippery, and dangerous in the rain, but Daxter barely noticed as he leapt down them onto the ground, intent as he was on the zoomer. It drew close, then stopped, and Jak's worried face peered out at him. 

"Daxter? What are you doing out here in the rain?" Jak was having to yell over the sound of the rain hitting the protective canopy over the zoomer. "Get in!" 

Daxter jumped in, grateful for the warmth and the break from the rain. He _knew_ Jak would come for him! 

"You're soaked to the bone." Jak remarked. He paused for a moment, then removed the red scarf around his neck. "Here. You can dry yourself with this, plus it might help to warm you up, if it doesn't get too wet." 

Daxter took the cloth and began rubbing himself over vigourously, pausing occasionally to locate a dry space of cloth. 

"What were you doing out here Daxter? I thought you were still in the Naughty Ottsel," Jak asked when Daxter paused to wring out the cloth. 

Daxter froze. If Jak thought he was back at the bar, then why had he.... 

"I was.. uhh... thinking. Way to noisy to think back there. Plus, I didn't think anyone would miss me." A partial truth. "Anyway, I can ask _you_ the same question! What're you doing here?" 

Jak looked away for a moment. "I was looking for Keira. She... I needed to talk to her, but she wasn't at the Ottsel. Samos said she might have headed home, but with the rain, I wasn't sure if she had made it. I was trying to see if she was walking in this." 

Daxter hurriedly resumed his drying, glad for the excuse to hide his face in the scarf. "Looking for Keira? So... You two were gonna meet up at her place? Do a little bit of the horizontal tango?" Daxter had to forcefully inject the suggestive humour into his voice and even then he sounded a little... annoyed. A breif glimpse at Jak's face showed momentary confusion and a scrutinizing look that Daxter decided he didn't want to face at this time. 

"It's nothing like that." Jak said. "I just have to... fix something. I won't be long. Then we can head back to the Ottsel and get some sleep." 

"Right." 

Daxter tossed the sodden scarf to the floor, and flashed Jak and unexpected grin. "Well? Are we just gonna sit around here all night? Keira's probably back by now!" 

Jak looked surprised, then smiled briefly (about as often as anyone saw him smile, Daxter recalled) before heading off towards Keira's place once more. 'So far so good,' Daxter thought, though the side-long glances Jak was giving him indicated he hadn't been as successful as he'd thought with setting Jak's mind to rest. 'Here come 'making sure Daxter's okay' questions all night...' 

------

Keira paused in the mundane task of making coffee. It was something that Haven City hadn't changed, something that was comfortingly familiar. She'd always loved the timeless ritual, the scent of the finely ground beans, followed by the coffee itself, fresh and inviting, with a delicate crown of froth topping it. Making coffee had always helped relax her, even though she didn't tend to drink so much of it, making it was very.... fulfilling, in an odd way. 

But now... 

Someone was disturbing her ritual. 

It didn't seem fair! After what Jak had put her through, she really needed this time alone. Needed time to think, to work out the tangled mass of emotions in her mind, time to stop... blaming herself. It wasn't her fault, was it? Her mind always came back to that question, a broken record of sorts. 

It wasn't her fault... 

But she could have done something wrong without realizing... Moved too fast... not moves fast enough... Maybe she was a bad kisser? She didn't know, but Keira did know one thing. 

Whoever it was that had interrupted her coffee, had better watch out. 

------

"Jak?" Keira hadn't really expected to see him when she opened the door. Part of her had hoped, had clung to the silly fantasy when he would turn up at her door, telling her it wasn't her fault, that it had been some kind of huge mistake.... 

But his face didn't say that now. 

"Keira... I... needed to talk to you." he said. 

"Fine, come in. Don't even bother to consider my feelings! After all, everything is screwed anyway, so what does it matter that you just broke all my dreams? Why not just walk all over me and use me as a doormat? Would you like that Jak? Should I lie in front of the door for you?!" 

Jak looked taken aback by the sudden outburst, and stiffened slightly when Keira wrapped her arms around him again. The sudden change and contact was too similar... Gently, Jak disentangled Keira's arms and stood back. 

"Keira, we both know this isn't going to work...." 

"Why?! Why won't it work?! What is _wrong_ Jak?! What have I done or said that makes it all fall apart? Please... I have to know." A sob entered her voice, and Keira looked up at him with pleading, tear-filled eyes, but Jak only stood there, staring at her, almost like he was arguing with himself. 

"Keira... It's not you, it's me. I know how much you feel for me, but I just can't.... I like you Keira, as a friend. Maybe once upon a time, it could have been more. But now... I don't know any more. I don't think there's anyone for me, not now, and probably never. I hope you... find someone else. Someone who'll treat you better than me." Rain was falling down the back of Jak's neck, soaking his tunic and reminding him that his scarf was no longer available. 

"Once upon a time..." Keira smiled wryly at that line. "Like some sort of fairy tale... What they tell children, while adults listen in, and know... Fairy tales aren't real. 'Once upon a time' has never saved anyone. And maybe... maybe I had my own fairy tale, something I wanted so badly... You broke my 'Once upon a time', Jak. Do you have any idea what that's like?" 

His eyes seemed to blaze at that, and Keira trembled a little, suddenly aware that she may have taken things too far. "Of course I know, I know it more than you ever would." Shadows made his face threatening, made him seem to tower over her. "I spent two years in prison, learning that every single day. There are no hopes, no dreams, and no 'Once upon a times' in that place. So don't tell me that you're suffering!" 

Keira backed away, she couldn't remember Jak ever having been this angry, and the way his eyes caught the light, seeming to shine from the shadows that hid his features... She stared at those eyes, desperately trying to see the first sign of them darkening, a sure sign that Jak was no longer himself... The rumours of what he became were varied, but the eyes... they all agreed. Eyes, like the very pits of hell. Suddenly she didn't want to know what he looked like then. 

"What did you do in those two years? Did you even try to find us? Daxter didn't even know you were here, but he found me, so maybe you weren't looking! You stand there, babbling on about your dreams and hopes, and you don't even _think_ of what I went through there, what I _paid_ in that hell hole. And you dare to tell me that you're hurt?!" 

"Jak... please don't.... you're scaring me..." 

He drew back a little, horrified with something, but whether it was with her or with himself, Keira didn't know. 

"You know what? Just forget it.... Forget what I said. Go back inside. I've... got things to do." Jak turned and headed back to the zoomer. "Let's go Daxter." 

------

Keira stared after them as the zoomer pulled out and headed back towards the Slums, then she turned around and went back inside. The coffee had gone cold by this time and was tipped into the drain without ceremony. The coffee-making things were carefully cleaned and put aside, all done in a half-daze. Then, turning on the heat generator, Keira carefully sat herself down in the biggest, most comfortable chair she owned, wrapped a blanket around herself, and started to cry. 

She had a lot of catching up to do.

**_Preview of chapter three~_**

Daxter glanced out the side of the Zoomer and gulped hurriedly. The buildings were flashing by in a strange blur of grime and neon, too fast to make out details, like where they were. 

'Jak does know that this is dangerous, right?!' Daxter thought frantically, his eyes dragging themselves back towards the road before them, as if he could keep them from crashing, simply by concentrating hard enough. 

A corner loomed ahead, and Daxter almost stopped breathing as Jak swung the Zoomer around sharply, barely checking his speed. 

Not even racing had been this bad. At least while racing everything was well lit, not soaked in rain, barely visible until you almost hit it.... 

At least the racing Zoomers were built for these speeds.... 

The dead end almost seemed to materialise in front of them, and the Zoomer was aimed straight for it..... 

Time seemed to slow, becoming painfully detailed in the tiniest ways, and Daxter seemed aware of how... distant everything seemed. So extreamly detailed and real, it was too real, too much to take in all at once. Like it was happening to someone else. 

The steel wall, looking extreamly solid and hard, rain making a soft sheen to it's surface, the hiss of the rain contacting the heated case of the Zoomer engine, the street itself, drenched in moonlight, the tortured scream of metal on metal as Jak hit the brakes, frantically, but too late... much too late.... 

The world stopped. 

------

*cackle* Who likes the preview~? ^^

  
  



	3. chapter 3

Chapter 3

Chapter three is here!! *dances* It is! Honest!! Much later than I intended, but still here. ^^;; 

Anyway, I promised to thank everyone who reviewed, and I will!! 

So~ A big thanks to: Vilyia, Lady Tsuru, Raven haired saiyan, EtherealShadow; who is now one of my betas, Jessica L. Young, Riona, Malon1031; who read it even when they don't normally do so, HappyGlow, Fhulhi the Crazy, Demz; my wonderful other Beta!!, Karr and Von! Thankyou all of you, you make me so happy! ^^ I'll see about doing more detailed thanks in the next chapter... > 

Also, don't be afraid to ask questions about the fic people! I like readers who think about what they read. If something doesn't make sense, or you think I've done something wrong with the cast or setting, _tell me_! Just expect me to argue my point if I think I'm right, or at least explain where the idea came from. 

-----

Daxter glanced out the side of the zoomer and gulped hurriedly. The buildings were flashing by in a strange blur of grime and neon, too fast to make out details- like where in this god-forsaken city they were. 

'Jak does know that this is dangerous, right?!' Daxter thought frantically, his eyes dragging themselves back towards the road before them, as if he could keep them from crashing simply by concentrating hard enough. 

A corner loomed ahead, and Daxter almost stopped breathing as Jak swung the zoomer around sharply, barely checking his speed. 

"Jak! I think it's about time that you SLOWED DOWN!" 

More buildings were flashing by, and another corner loomed ever closer ahead. Daxter thought he recognized a distant, but rapidly approaching, sign. They were in the slums. He swallowed again. Why the slums? The one area with way too many twists and turns for Daxter's liking at the moment. Was Jak _trying_ to kill them?! 

Metal screamed as the zoomer almost didn't turn fast enough, leaving a line of paint and metal on the side of a building, but still Jak didn't slow. A brief, morbid vision made Daxter wonder what the walls would look like with a line of.... bits.... along it. 

'We're going to die.' Daxter thought, his eyes still glued to the road ahead. 'He's not slowing down, and this is the slums, and we're going to DIE!' 

Jak's hand moved, and for a moment hope shone for Daxter, hope that Jak had finally come to his senses and was slowing the vehicle down before they missed a turn.... 

He was speeding up. 

'Does he think this is some kind of race?! We could die!' But still, the city flashed past. 'We _are_ going to die. We are _going_ to die. We are going to _die_. _We are going to die...'_ The words rang as a litany in Daxter's head. It did seem a little unfair though; he at least thought he could die in his original form. 

Not even racing had been this bad. At least while racing everything was well lit, not soaked in rain, barely visible until you almost hit it.... 

At least the racing zoomers were built for these speeds.... 

Unbidden, Daxter's eyes were dragged around to stare at the smoking engine. They really were going to die. All because Keira had made Jak mad. 

The dead end almost seemed to materialize in front of them, and the zoomer was aimed straight for it.... 

Time seemed to slow, becoming painfully detailed in the tiniest ways, and Daxter seemed aware of how _distant_ everything seemed. So extremely detailed and real, it was too real, too much to take in all at once. Like it was happening to someone else. 

The steel wall, looking extremely solid and hard, rain making a soft sheen to it's surface; the hiss of the rain contacting the heated case of the zoomer engine; the street itself, drenched in moonlight; the tortured scream of metal on metal as Jak hit the brakes, frantically, but too late... much too late.... 

And they were flying, Daxter was wrapped in strong arms, guarding and protecting him as the ground.... 

The ground appeared out of nowhere, rising to meet the falling pair with a resounding thump, then they were rolling over and over and over.... 

The world stopped. 

------

Daxter opened his eyes to an ocean of blue. 

'Jak's tunic', part of him supplied. 

He looked up, blinking a few times to focus his eyes, and found Jak's face. It was still fastened to his body, as much as Daxter could make out, which was a good sign. Jak's eyes were also open, which was a better sign. He was looking at something. 

Daxter turned to follow Jak's gaze, feeling a little surprised to see the crumpled remains of what he guessed was a zoomer, though it could have been a metal pancake. Daxter's mind wasn't too sure at the moment. There was also the wall that had most likely caused the pancake-like appearance of their zoomer. Jak was staring at it. 

Daxter looked at the wall again, while his mind quickly cleared away the rest of the cobwebs over his memories and handed him the results. 

'We should be dead.' Daxter thought. 'I didn't think there was enough time for him to jump out, but he did it anyway, and the zoomer is a pile of scrap metal now and it's still pouring rain and we should be dead.' 

Jak reached out very gently and touched the wall, almost like he was testing if it was real or not. 

Daxter stared at his hand, then at Jak's face, then back again. Finally, he got up the courage to say; "Jak?" in a nervous and uncertain voice. 

Jak blinked and looked down at the ottsel, for once jokeless, looking forlorn and... vulnerable. Not to mention terrified. 

"Dax... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put you through that," he said, then smiled wryly. "I guess we'll have to walk back to the Naughty Ottsel." 

Daxter made himself smile back, and climb onto Jak's shoulder as if nothing had happened, though the singed fur, hair and clothing testified otherwise. "Forget about it baby, just so long as we can get cleaned up when we get back, I'll be fine." 

But he wasn't. His mind kept thinking, 'He only apologized because he dragged me along, not because he almost killed us....' It was leading towards something Daxter didn't want to think about. 

'If I hadn't been there, what would he have done?' 

------ 

Tess looked up from wiping the tables down in the closed bar and frowned slightly as the pair dripped mud and water on the freshly cleaned floor. 

"I just finished that you know." she said, almost absent mindedly. "Is everything alright? You look like you walked back here, so what happened to the zoomer? Should I ask Keira to look at it?" 

She winced a bit as Jak glared. "We don't need anyone to look at it, least of all Keira. I'm going to have a shower." 

Tess watched Jak leave, ascending the stairs as if he had a personal grudge against them, then turned questioning eyes on Daxter. It was then she noticed the vaugue look to his eyes, the way he seemed to be blocking something from his mind. 

"Maybe you should have a shower too, Daxter. I'm sure Jak won't mind the company." she suggested, keeping her tone light, though her mind was troubled. 

Daxter gave a half-nod, and headed in the direction Jak had left, all the while looking preoccupied with something. Tess hoped that the shower would calm the two of them down, then maybe she could ask Daxter what the hell had happened out there. 

Still, while she was waiting, the floor needed cleaning, and there was work to be done. 

------

Jak stripped on auto-pilot turned the hot water up as far as it would go, then stood under the stream of heat and steam. 'What the hell was I thinking, I could have gotten Daxter killed with that stunt.' he thought to himself. 'As if I haven't already done enough to him, I have to drag him around with me through who knows what, without even thinking about what could happen. What would I have done if I'd lost him?' He sighed. Jak knew that if he was perfectly honest with himself, Daxter was about the only person he could truly call a friend. No one else had stuck with him through everything- not even Keira had been there all the way. Had been with him all the time, through things that were best left to darkness and screams in the night... 

He wouldn't have trusted anyone else to get _that_ close to him, not yet. For a while though, Jak had thought that maybe, just maybe, Keira could understand him, could accept him for who he was, and become as close to him as Daxter was. But it seemed like all she saw was a dream, a memory warped by what she desired him to be, not who he really was. 

She hadn't been there when the night had last dragged him screaming into an abyss of nightmares and night horrors. 

Jak noticed Daxter enter the shower as well, industriously soaping his fur and flinching at the heat of the water. He lowered the temperature a little, letting the ottsel share the warm water, scything cold away from skin, muscle and bone. 

Jak could have kicked himself for the number of times he'd overlooked Daxter, the times he'd taken the little ottsel for granted, ignored his ideas and comments, overruled what Daxter had wanted. He'd just been so... obsessed about everything. Taking down the Baron, saving the city, fighting the Metalhead Leader. He'd overlooked everything else, taken it all for granted, and now he'd almost lost it. He'd been a man driven, all that time after he'd left prison, there had never been time for him to think, time for him to plan or feel or wonder, only time to do. And now he had all the time in the world, and not a clue what to do with it. 

He started laughing at that, but Daxter started watching him, a strange look in his eye, probably wondering what was so amusing in a shower, so Jak stopped. 

Maybe now he should think. Think about how Daxter had always been there, think about all the things everyone had done for him, all the 'thank yous' that were left unsaid. 

All the times a soft ottsel paw had soothed the screaming in the night, and held back the nightmares. 

Maybe it was time for a change. Jak smiled ever so slightly at the idea, but another, slightly darker one, followed. 

'What happens to heroes who are no longer needed?' 

-----

Daxter was really trying not to stare at Jak's... well, you know. He was blushing, it was difficult to tell underneath the orange and yellow ottsel fur, but he was definitely blushing, all the while suppressing the urge to stare at Jak, the toned muscles and tanned skin. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't 'silken to the touch', like they always wrote in those romance things. Jak had many scars. Near misses from fights with Guards or Metalheads or racing or brawling. The odd ones from getting too angry and attempting to take his frustration out on a wall. There were even some that Daxter wasn't too sure about, ones that Jak didn't realize he had, because it was the _other_ Jak that had gotten them.... 

Jak had a lot of scars. 

Daxter didn't mind so much, it was a part of who Jak was, and he prided himself in the fact that Jak trusted him enough to let him see him like this.... 

Butt naked and dripping water and foam.... 

Dammit! He had just _had_ to look didn't he?! 

It was times like this that Daxter hated Jak for being so, so _dense_! Hated the way he hid his emotions from Jak, because he was too afraid to tell him. Jak thought this was an innocent shower between two friends, mainly because one was too short to reach everything, and Daxter was determined to keep it that way. He wasn't sure how exactly Jak would take it if he saw Daxter staring at him in the shower. Daxter wasn't sure what he would say to Jak if he was caught staring... 

He was doing it _again_! 

Daxter decided that this was pushing things a little too far, and left the cubicle. The basin provided easy to reach taps with icy cold, somewhat clean water, something the ottsel was grateful for at the moment. But that didn't change the fact that he was maybe pushing things too much by sharing the shower. It looked like it would be basin-baths for him from now on. He wondered briefly if Jak would notice, or ask why. Then he wondered what he would say if Jak did. 

Daxter dried himself before Jak finished his shower, and headed back towards the main part of the Naughty Ottsel. It was the only area of the bar that had been completely re-done. New paint, a very thorough scrubbing, plus some of the more obvious changes. Daxter had always been slightly nervous about the mess in the Hip Hog, and so he was determined to keep the Naughty Ottsel as clean as possible. It was probably impossible in Haven city. But still, you had to try. 

"Daxter? Is something wrong?" Tess called, falling silent as he waved her off and headed to his and Jak's makeshift quarters. Someday soon, Krew's rooms were going to be scrubbed, disinfected, scrubbed some more, and possibly even burned, then refurnished. Then he and Jak would be able to sleep in real comfort. Still, the bed they had at the moment was more comfortable than what they had been used to before, not that either of them had noticed what condition the beds were in, when they had the spare time for luxuries like sleep. 

Still, Daxter wished the room was a little more... _them_. He wanted at least _something_ that said they spent time there, not just a plain brown bed with plain off-white sheets and a brown blanket. It just seemed so drab. 'Heroes of the city shouldn't have to live with drab,' Daxter decided, but it didn't really help. As much as he was trying to distract his mind that night, it kept going back to the near-accident.... And the pancake-zoomer. It was only a small task for Daxter's mind to add in the bits of flesh and gore that would be all that was left of them, after hitting the wall. They would have been unidentifiable, save for the zoomer itself. 

Keira would probably cry for Jak. Everyone would probably cry for Jak. After all, Jak was the hero, and Daxter was the furry thing on his shoulder. 

And Jak hadn't cared if he hit the wall or not.... 

But he had cared that Daxter might have been hurt. 

Daxter lay long into the night, puzzling over these strange events, reliving the fear of the race, and doing something he was not so well known for, hiding it well with some of his other secrets: thinking. As the night wore on, Jak returned and fell asleep, and still Daxter did not know of what all these things meant. Maybe he never would. 

------

Morning sunlight washed the city in dirty golden light and created magnificent visual effects on the smog layer coating the city. It stole into the room Jak and Daxter shared, and lit up the sleeping forms therein. Orange fur glowed slightly in the questing rays, as did pale hair. 

Jak stirred a little as the light invaded his sleep, but it was a welcome feeling, often driving back nightmares and reassuring him that that was all they were; nightmares. He opened his eyes, blinking often as he got used to the change in the light, before sitting up sleepily. 

Daxter also awoke, as his 'alarm clock' went off. The reason being, if you sleep on someone's chest, then when they sit up in the morning, you wake up too. 

"Jak? Isn't this a little early?" Daxter mumbled, then yawned hugely. 

Jak smiled slightly down at him. "Yeah, but remember, we have work to do today." 

Even though the Metahead Leader, MetalKor, had been defeated a few weeks back, by Jak himself, many Metalheads still roamed outside the city, preventing free travel and expansion from Haven. And so Jak was still able to make himself useful, heading out with the squads of guards and Wastelanders who made it their point to get rid of as many Metalheads as possible. It wasn't that bad, and Jak had plenty of experience when it came to fighting Metalheads, so he often went out with them. It was better than sitting around the Ottsel doing nothing. 

Jak then recalled the events of the night before, how he'd almost foolishly tossed Daxter's life away.... Did he want to drag Daxter, possibly against his will, into more potentially deadly zones? At least while they were fighting the Baron, Daxter had been as much a part of it as Jak had, but now? Now Daxter had the bar, had a place to stay, the chance of building a new, better life for himself. Did Jak really have the right to deprive him of this chance? 

"Dax... I was thinking." Jak began. 

"Don't hurt yourself." 

"Funny. But are you sure you want to come with me? We're scheduled to go to the Metalhead Nest remains and clean up what we find there... It'll be more dangerous than any other place. Are you sure you want to do this? You could just stay..." 

"What? Stay here? And miss all of the excitement?!" Daxter looked up at Jak, almost calculating. "You trying to keep all that glory to yourself, aren't you? All those babes fawning over you.... Asking you to tell how brave you were..." he nudged Jak. "I bet Keira would be..." 

"Just forget about Keira. I have." Jak said, a little more harshly than he had intended. 

"Whoa! Settle down baby! I just think maybe you're jumping to conclusions! Take it slow... You sure it's over with Keira?" 

Jak took a deep, calming breath. "It's over." he said. "I don't know how she sees it, but I can't pretend to feel what I don't. Maybe there isn't anyone for me in this city." 

"Don't say that Jak! 'Cause it ain't true! Now let's get down there and kick some Metalhead ass!!" 

Jak looked at his friend in surprise, Daxter was suddenly very animated, almost bubbly with happiness. 

'Is is because I'm not with Keira? Did he... like her that much?' Jak felt a pang of something. Envy, jealousy, or something he wasn't entirely sure of, but he pushed it aside, as he did with so many emotions, to deal with later. "Well, we'd better get ready." 

-----

"Morning boys!" Tess called cheerfully. Daxter had given up trying to figure out how the blonde could possibly be the last to leave the Naughty Ottsel whenever it got around to closing, drive home, then be ready to open the place in the morning. Unless she only needed a few minutes sleep, it didn't seem possible. 

But there she was, every morning, breakfast ready for them and the early customers, never a hair out of place. Maybe it was time to give her a raise.... 

"Hey there sugar-plum! Did'ja miss me?" Daxter called, leaping lightly from Jak's shoulder to land on the surface of the bar. Tess winked at him, and placed an order of the morning's special before them, pancakes with a sweet berry sauce. 

Jak nodded his thanks and moved most of the pile to his own plate, letting Daxter have his favourite ones, near the bottom of the pile, soaked with sauce. 

"Thanks Tess," Jak said, making a start on breakfast. "We'll need the extra energy for today's work. Sorry we can't help out in the bar." 

Tess shrugged. "It's not like the Ottsel gets hugely busy during the morning, plus Daxter hired some more staff to help out around the place...." 

Almost on cue, the doors opened to admit a troupe of scantily-clad maidens. 

"...which appear to have arrived." Tess finished smoothly. 

Jak couldn't help but stare a little, and half wonder where exactly Daxter had found the girls. Maybe at one of those hidden bars with the interesting pictures out front... 'Just like Daxter to find himself a small harem to run the place. Not that he hasn't got good taste....' Jak thought, his eyes flicking over the exposed flesh. "Looks like they only have one outfit between them." he muttered to Daxter. 

Daxter had been scrutinizing the new employees, pleased with what he saw. Krew hadn't understood that a bit of exposed flesh here and there brought in more customers than Metalhead trophies did. At Jak's comment he scowled a little, ever so slightly tempted to tell the girls to leave. 

But they did need the help, and the extra customers. The attraction of seeing MetalKor's huge head wouldn't last forever, and the Naughty Ottsel also had to battle the left over images from the Hip Hog. Daxter needed to show the city that the Ottsel was different, fresh and exciting. Which meant he could not fire the girls simply because Jak liked the way they looked. 

He took a moment to relax back into 'normal' Daxter mode, and turned back to Jak, a slight leer dancing on his lips. 

"Yeah! Bet you'd like to show them the ropes, eh Jak?" 'A suggestive wink,' he reminded himself. 'Add a suggestive wink.' 

Jak rolled his eyes. "I bet I'm not the only one," he commented. "But we don't have time for this, we're due at the transport soon." 

Daxter nodded, pushed the dirty plates aside, and jumped easily onto Jak's shoulder. "Well, what are we waiting for?! We can oogle when we get back... Tell the ladies what danger we went through, let them pamper the hero... I'll even let you stick around too, Jak!" 

Jak smiled, a rare occurrence for him, but something he enjoyed. It seemed like Daxter was able to take his problems; remembered harsh words, stupid actions and irrational behaviour, and hide them away for a time. Sometimes he thought Daxter had been the only thing stopping him from going insane. 

Daxter, with his fast talking, sharp tongued comebacks and lines, helping to break the tension when Jak needed it. Offering advice, often intended to get a smile from Jak, even while it was helpful. 

Daxter was the only person who could get Jak to smile now. 

'I don't need anyone else, when I've got him.' Jak thought. 'Anyway, Daxter knows me as well as I know him, he'd be the last person to hurt me, and I trust him more than anyone now. Which is why I have to do this... Why I have to find out....' 

A few moments on the Jetboard, long enough to cross the bay and arrive at the transport, and Jak was ready to.... be berated by Torn. 

"Jak, you're late." Torn growled, his tone indicating that he believed tardiness to be one of the seven deadly sins. "Don't do it again, or we'll have to leave without you. Get in." 

'Next stop,' Jak thought grimly, 'the Metalhead Nest.' 

------

You like? No preview for the next chapter, I couldn't find anything to put in that wouldn't give away what I planned for the next chapter.... I should be able to do one for chapter five though... *plots*

  
  



	4. chapter 4

Chapter 4

I call this one "Kes' Info chapter". --;; Basically, I needed to cover some stuff before the next chapter, so please bear with me! I promise that the next chapter is longer, and much more... interesting. > Though if there is no chapter six, it is because an irate fangirl shot me. ;; 

Now, to follow up from the last chapter's reviews! 

To Von (who actually reviews every chapter of Jak and Daxter stuff I write!) Unfortunatly the speed the chapters get put out at depends on when I get them done, sent to my betas, sent back, send it back AGAIN... You get the idea. Though, I do sometimes cheat and go ahead and post it if my betas take too long. ;; Generally I've already finished the next chapter by the time this one gets posted. Think of how long everything would take if I hadn't!! 

To Jessica L. Young I know you probably had a really great question you wanted to ask in that last review, but Im not sure exactly what you mean. Does Jak tell Daxter what exactly? 

To Karr 'Scarface' Rabid Ottsel... O.O As for Jak's feelings on Daxter, and Daxter's on Jak's, and their eventual future... You'll just have to wait and see won't you. . Wouldn't it be a Goddess of Yaoi? 

To dragon child of Awe This isn't actually a review, and I already know about the JakIII game, I have the opening sequence on my computer. 

To Eva Kasumi No please, jabber on for ours... I need ego inflating, just ask Demz... > But seriously, one of the things I really worry about is how I depict the characters, I want them to be as close as possible to the originals, which is why I try to keep my pairings and such as accurate as possible. I tend to get kind of irritated by writers who think they can change a character, just so they can write them with someone else... ;; I have entire rants on this topic, so I probably shouldn't say any more. And if you think the plot rocks now... wait 'til the end of the next chapter, and possibly my own death from that same chapter.. 

To Silika Thanks for the review! And I hope you like this chapter as much!

-----

Jak sidestepped the headlong charge of the Metalhead, waited for the right moment, then fired a volley of shots into it's vunerable underbelly. 

"This is easy," he commented to Daxter as the corpse hit the ground, "I don't know why Torn even needed us for this. He _is_ Commander of the Krimzon Guards, why not just bring enough Guards to clear out the area, instead of paying Wastelanders to do it?" 

Daxter shrugged from his post by Jak's ear. "It's good money," he commented, "Money which, I might add, we happen to _need_." 

Jak rolled his eyes. "Things were easier when we were outlaws, people didn't expect us to _pay_ for things then. We could just take what we needed." 

"And fight off the Krimzon Guard squads when they came afterward." 

"Yeah well, it was easier than having to worry about _jobs_ and _working_!" Jak said hotly. 

Daxter patted his ear soothingly. "Well, we've gotta worry about that stuff now buddy! We have to pay for things like normal people, which means we need to get money like the rest of the City, which means we do jobs like this for Tattooed Wonder. At least it's something you're good at, right?" 

Jak had to agree with that, but something about the setup still bothered him. "I still don't see why Torn couldn't have brought more Guards with him. I don't trust most of the Wastelanders here... Not everyone who worked for Krew is like Sig, I get the feeling most of them don't like us... Even Sig seems nervous around some of them. It worries me." 

"I'm guessing you clowns ran out of Metalheads the way you're talking." Torn said, approaching the pair for the drop-off point. "But for your information, Jak, not that you _need_ to know, but the Guards are needed inside the city." 

Jak stared at him. "More than they are here? What could possibly be more dangerous than the chance of another Metalhead attack?" 

Torn rolled his eyes. "Your ignorance is showing Jak. As for something more dangerous? Politics. People and politics don't mix well, specially when there have been as many changes as there have been to Haven's power structure." 

"Politics?" Neither Jak nor Daxter had much experiance with the subject, Sandover Village had little need for any political powers, even the Mayor was mainly for show. Life in Haven city was still taking some getting used to for the both of them, occasionally throwing up unexpected surprises. 

"Don't play stupid Jak, it suits you too well." 

Daxter placed a warning paw on Jak's head. Torn still had to tell them what was going on in Haven, and it wouldn't look too good if the Hero of Haven City killed the Commander of the Krimzon Guards, however you twisted it. 

"You and I both know that Ashelin has been making some changes to the way our city is being run. For one, she's allowed the people more freedom when it comes to how they want the city to be run, making herself a Governer, rather than a Baroness. She's also changed a number of other things, such as the powers of the Krimzon Guards, and many of the laws that her father put into place." 

"So? All these changes are good! Why would there be a problem?" 

"Try to keep up Jak. Not everyone is happy with these changes. There are those who were well-off under the Baron's rule, and have had a rather unsettling change in their lives since Ashelin came to power. They _liked_ what the Baron had going for them, they won't want to lose that so easily. Even some of the 'normal' civilians aren't too happy with the changes, one I can think of in particular." 

Jak stared. "What?! Why the hell would they _want_ the Baron's rule?!" 

"Well, for one thing, Ashelin has granted the Lurker people full citizenship, meaning they have all the rights of you and me, and can no longer be kept as slaves. This doesn't go down too well with your average guy who suddenly finds his owning of a Lurker slave is illegal. Some of the people think that the Lurkers are nothing more than animals, and want to change the new rules. There have been riots of late... and attacks." 

"I didn't know..." Jak said quietly. 

Daxter looked a little nervous. "We'll, uhhh, be alright, won't we? No one's coming after us are they?" 

Torn looked at him. "Not as far as I know of." 

"We'll be alright Dax," Jak said. "I don't think anyone will try anything." 'Not when they think I might go insane and kill everyone...' 

Torn stretched a little. "Well, now that we've finished our little lesson in politics, how about you two quit slacking off and check out the inside of the nest." he lowered his voice a little. "You're the only two I can trust to tell me _exactly_ what you find there." 

"Right." Jak said. He checked over the MorphGun and looked at Daxter. "Let's go revisit some memories." 

"I can hardly wait." came the sarcastic reply. 

-----

Jak scanned the huge cavern from his position inside the entrance tunnel before entering. Who knew if there were any Metalheads around or not. A huge skeleton dominated the centre of the chamber, headless and picked clean of any remaining flesh, leaving only bits of metal casing and bone; all that remained of the Metalhead leader. 

Jak thought it was a little strange; he'd been lead to belive that once MetalKor was dead, the remainder of the Metalheads would die too. Only, that had not been the case. He was, quite frankly, curious. 

"Torn?" Jak flipped open the communicator he'd been issued. "If Kor's dead, then why are there still Metalheads around?" 

Torn's voice growled at him from the unit. "Is that all you wanted to know?!" A few bursts of gunfire interrupted. "I'm in the middle of something..." A few more bursts, then the dying screech of a Metalhead. "Fine, as it seems like I only came here to fill your bite-sized skull with information. Vin had a theory that the Metalhead Leader wasn't the be-all end-all of the Metalheads. Even if you took it out, there would still be Metalheads around. His theory was that the Metalhead Leader was able to channel the conciousness of other Metalheads, thereby directing them in battle more efficently. Taking out the Leader would only break up the attacking forces, not kill them entirely. Fortunaly, that was all we needed to save Haven." 

"So you're saying that killing MetalKor only _distracted_ them?!" 

"For a moment. While MetalKor was dealing with you, the attack on the city faultered a little. Many Metalheads retreated, fought amoungst themselves, or reverted to normal behaviour. Killing him caused the few he was still controlling to do the same. It was enough for our Guards to turn the tide of battle." 

Jak thought about this. "So even though it wasn't what I thought would happen, it was still enough..." 

"The Metalheads fought themselves?!" Daxter put in, "Why?! What kind of stupid idea is that?" 

Jak could tell Torn was getting exasperated with the Ottsel, even through the communicator. "The Metalheads are like any other race of animals, they don't all get along. Once Kor's hold on them dissipitated, some of them fought others. Now if that's all, _get back to WORK!!_" 

Jak glanced at Daxter, "Sounds like we was pretty annoyed. Still, the information was useful. Now we've just got to check out this area." 

"Is there even anything here?" Daxter said, "It looks pretty empty to me buddy." 

Jak glanced around the room, and was forced to agree with Daxter. Other than Kor's remains, some broken Metalhead eggs, and the hole in the centre of the room; the place was empty. 

_The hole in the centre of the room...._

"Hey Dax, what do you think is down here?" Jak asked, walking to the edge of the seemingly bottemless drop. "Looks like a long way down..." 

"Uhhh, Jak? Are you sure this is such a good idea? I mean, we can't just _jump_ down there! It's suicide!!" Daxter was leaning away from the hole, part of him wondering if he could pull Jak backwards by will power alone. 

"Don't worry Dax," Jak said. He winked at his best friend. "I wasn't going to jump..." 

"Whew.." 

"...without a rope." 

"WHAT!! Are you CRAZY?! Even with a rope we have no idea of how far it goes down! What if it's filled to the brim with Metalheads?! Do I have to remind you what we were fighting earlier?! What if there is another Metalhead Leader down there?! What if you _die?!_" Daxter paused to draw breath, and Jak quickly butted in. 

"If there was another Metalhead Leader, we'd know by this. If there were Metalheads down there, they've probably left long since, and I'm going to climb down the rope until we get to the bottom, not jump. And I don't plan on dying any time soon." He smirked at his companion. "Any other complaints?" 

Daxter looked helplessly into Jak's eyes, wanting to tell him how he felt about him, wanting to scream at him not to do anything stupid that might get him hurt, might die and leave Daxter alone... 

"Well, uhh... Where's that rope?" 

-----

Torn growled again as his communicator beeped. Could those two do nothing without help? He was beginning to regret sending them in there. 

"What is it?" he snapped. "This had better be good, or I'm gonna..." But he was cut off by Jak's excited cry, and Daxter's random yelling in the background. 

"Torn! It's filled with Eco!!!" 

-----

Jak remembered being told that Metalheads needed Eco. He wasn't sure what for, but at the time, he'd thought it meant they needed Dark Eco, seeing as it seemed to be the only type avalible in Haven City. 

It turned out he was wrong. 

Metalheads obviously needed Eco. All types of Eco. Jak had been curious as, when they were decending the rope into this hidden treasure trove, he had noticed rainbows of light dancing across the walls, shimmering across his face. 

He soon found out why. 

The room was filled with more Eco then Jak had ever seen in one place before. True, Dark Eco amounts seemed to out-weight the other types almost ten to one, but the amount of other types of Eco was still mind-blowing. 

"We could probably run Haven on this for a year!" Jak exclaimed to Daxter as they wandered the huge cavern. 

"Well, Samos will never have to bother us about looking for Green Eco for him again." Daxter commented, as the passed a mini lake of Green Eco. 

Jak himself was sorely tempted to 'borrow' some of the Eco for himself. Relive the feeling of power, speed or the ability to shoot flames from his hands... 

But the Eco could probably be put to a better use elsewhere. Who knew how rare the different types were now, Jak was used to finding vents in Sandover, but Haven didn't appear to have any, so chances were that the other Eco types were pretty rare now. Still... 

"I think we should take some samples back to Samos," Jak said, "I'm not sure if Torn or Ashelin will let him get some after they've stored it." 

"Hey, if it keeps Old Green Stuff off our backs for a while, I'm in!" Daxter replied. "You did bring some containers, right?" 

"Sure thing. You never know what you're gonna need here." 

Daxter watched Jak carefully. He wasn't normally the planning ahead type, so if he had brought containers to store Eco in, then chances were that Jak _expected_ to find Eco here. 

"I wonder what the Metalheads needed it for anyway," Daxter commented as Jak carefully scooped portions of Eco into containers. "I mean, it didn't do them any good, did it?" 

"I guess we'll never know." Jak replied, carefully securing the containers in his backpack. "We'd better get back over to the opening before Torn shows up and gets pissy." 

Daxter blinked a little. "Jak? Old Green Stuff doesn't need _that_ much Eco does he? I mean, that's a lot!" 

Jak shrugged, "I'd rather get more than we need, than have to come back down here later." he said by way of explaination. 

"Well, I guess it sounds ok..." 

"Anyway, what does it matter? A little extra Eco for us might be helpful, unless you _want_ to pay Torn and Ashelin for it..." 

Daxter thought about this. A little Eco in reserve _would_ be useful, and he didn't see why Torn and Ashelin should have first claim to it. 'Finder Keepers' was his motto... But it bothered him a little that Jak was thinking this way as well. Normally it would be _him_ suggesting that they take a little something for themselves, and Jak would give him that look, the one that always managed to make Daxter feel guilty about what he was planning, then they'd go and confess... And Daxter would generally end up doing some sort of punishment for stealing. He sighed. Though he hadn't liked the results, Jak had always been the one with the morals, and he'd always been more than happy to go along with Jak, no matter how much he complained, if it meant that Jak would smile... 

'Jak should have his smiles banned as an illegal drug.' Daxter thought to himself. 'After one, you just can't stop trying to get another...' 

"Dax? Hello? Are you still awake?" Jak said, shrugging his shoulder and jolting the ottsel back to reality. "Is everything ok? You seem really preoccupied today..." It was probably last night's Zoomer incident, Jak thought. He hadn't realized that it had affected Daxter so deeply... He mentally cursed himself for bringing Daxter along. 

'Some time alone would have been better for him. Time to let him realize he doesn't have to be with me all the time. Time to realize what he might lose if he _is_ with me all the time...' Jak quickly shoved the thoughts and accompaning emotions into the back of his mind. Damn, he'd been so preoccupied, he'd missed Daxter's responce. 

"We'd better see if Torn's here yet." Jak said by way of an excuse for not responding to Daxter's reply. 

"Uhh... sure thing buddy." Daxter said. Now Jak was acting strange. Did Eco do something to your mind if there was a lot of it around at once? Should he be worried about Jak? Come to think of it, would Jak be able to channel other types of Eco as well, now that his body had been effected by Dark Eco? 

Too many questions that he didn't know the answers to, best to leave them alone until later, Daxter decided. They had to face Torn and any remaining Metalheads first...

  
  



	5. chapter 5

Chapter 5

Hey everyone! Thaks so much for waiting on this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it as much I enjoyed writing it. This contains my first attempts at an action-style scene, so please be brutal! Can't get better without decent critisim, ne? Oh, and please don't hurt me too badly for the last part... Please? 

Huge thankyous to everyone later, and I am also working on a picture to go with this chapter, so keep an eye on my deviantart page, ok? (shameless plug) 

Also, my cliche-parody fic will be updated soon, promise! 

-----

Torn was already at the opening when the pair returned. 

"What took you two so long?" he growled, "Sightseeing?" 

"We were examining the extent of the Eco lakes." Jak said, reminding himself that hauling off and hitting Torn was not an advisable plan. 

"And?" 

"I can't belive that there's so much Eco in one place! What could the Metalheads have possibly needed it all for?!" 

Torn shrugged. "I don't know. Vin had some theories on it, but I don't think he had any hard evidence. What types of Eco do we have here?" 

Daxter wondered if Torn was oblivious to the masses of different Eco types nearby, or if he just liked ordering Jak around. 

"Dark, Green, Blue, Red... all types!" Jak said, "Barring white of course." 

Torn's brow furrowed. "White Eco? What the hell is that?" 

Jak thought for a moment, mentally reliving the awesome feeling of power that had flowed through him the single time he'd used it. "It's pretty powerful," he said, painfully aware of how little justice the description gave it, "It's made from a combination of Green, Blue, Yellow and Red Eco." 

"Not possible." Torn said. "When the Baron first started experimenting with Eco, I think they tried mixing those Eco types together, in the hopes of getting a super warrior." 

Jak blinked. "I've never heard of this before now." 

"You wouldn't have. Not many people know about it." 

"What happened?" 

"The resulting explosion took out most of the labs and killed all of the scientists. I'm not sure what cover story the Baron used, but I was able to find out what really happened. But my point is, we simply don't have the equipment to create this 'White Eco', and unless you know the secret, it can't be done." Torn crossed his arms, watching Jak carefully. 

"I don't know..." Jak stared at his feet, then turned and surveyed the room. "Chances are the secret was left behind with Sandover..." 

Torn scowled. "Quit your babbling. No one knows about it, and that's final. Now if we've finished our little chat, I need to get everyone back to the city and inform Ashelin about this Eco mine." 

Jak rolled his eyes as Torn flipped open the communicator and began barking orders down it. Then it would be back to the Ottsel and sitting around waiting for something to happen. He halfway wished the Metalheads would attack again.... At least he wasn't as useless then. 

"Who needs heroes, anyway?" Jak muttered to himself. 

Daxter looked at him nervously and began to worry again. 

-----

Jak blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light outside of MetalKor's nest. The sun was beginning to sink towards the horizon, and was apparently positioned perfectly to blind Jak as he stepped outside. 

"Hey there, Cherry." Sig called as Jak tried to blink the after-images away from his eyes. "We're 'bout ready to head on back to the city. How's your end?" 

Jak rolled his shoulders casually. "Nothing much to bother about," he replied, "I didn't find anything really challenging, the Krimzon Guard should have been able to clean this out on their own." 

Sig grinned, landing a huge hand on Jak's shoulder. "Too true, Cherry, but still, the money's good, and easy too. Can't complain about that." 

"Well, I just wish that I had more to do... It's so _irritating_, just sitting around waiting for Torn or Ashelin to decide if I could be useful or not." Jak sighed, dragging his fingers through his hair. "I don't think anyone needs me anymore. Maybe I should just go off somewhere. Explore or something..." 

Sig shared a glance with Daxter before answering. "I don't know... 'All the Metalheads still around it might be better for you to wait a bit. 'Sides I'm sure that Keira would like you to..." 

"Will everyone just shut up about Keira?!" Jak snapped. "My life doesn't happen to revolve around her, no matter what she wants. Anyway, it's not like she really cares about me. I'm going back to the transport..." He turned and stalked off before Sig had a chance to answer. 

"Eh.. Jak? Maybe you shouldn't have yelled like that... I mean, it's not Sig's fault, he didn't even know that you and Keira aren't together anymore..." Daxter said, trying to catch Jak's eye. "And shouldn't we go check with Torn about what we do next? There might still be Metalheads around." 

Jak snorted. "I doubt it. Besides, I can deal with any Metalheads that come our way. There hasn't been anything worth worrying about all day. Face it Dax, the Metalhead Nest is dead. Nothing worth worrying about, and nothing dangerous." He scowled at the landscape. "Just rocks and dirt.." 

Daxter swallowed nervously, keeping an eye on the terrain just in case. There didn't seem to be any signs of Metalheads... the odd monster, but no Metalheads. Come to think of it, even the monsters were leaving. Some of the good sized ones that he caught glimpses of would have had a decent chance at attacking Jak, but they were all leaving, like maybe something worse was around... 

"Uhhh, Jak? Maybe we should turn back. I have a bad feeling..." 

"Relax, Daxter, nothing is going to happen to us, besides we're almost back to the transport." 

Daxter was vaguely aware of the note of concern in Jak's voice, but was much more interested in the odd movements he kept seeing out of the corner of his eye, though it was never there when he turned his head. This, coupled with the sudden quiet and the monsters leaving, was making for a very nervous Daxter. 

"Please can we go back, Jak?" Daxter didn't care how scared his voice sounded. He was technically a rodent, and the primal senses of rodents everywhere were screaming at him to get far, far away from this place. 

"If you think so Dax.." 

"I know so! MOVE!!" 

Jak turned back towards the Metalhead lair, surprised by the amount of terror he'd heard in Daxter's voice. "Daxter, what's wrong? I've never seen you this.." 

The ground moved. 

"What the-" Jak exclaimed. 

"Jak!! Run! We've got to get away from here!" Then, partially blind with panic and the overwhelming sense of danger, Daxter sank his teeth into Jak's ear. 

"Ow! Daxter!" The ground moved again, pitching Jak forward onto his knees. "What's happening?!" 

The ground moved again, cascading loose dry earth and sending Jak and Daxter off the edge of the rapidly rising mound. Jak instinctively rolled away from the mound, still painfully aware of Daxter's teeth in his ear, then leapt to his feet. At first, his eyes couldn't comprehend what they were seeing, as obscured as it was by the dirt, but then he saw a glowing gem, and Jak realized he was staring at one of the largest Metalheads he'd ever seen. 

_'Shooting this one will only make it mad!'_

Sig's words came back to him. It wasn't the same Metalhead that they had fought in Underport, but it's size was comparable. As the dirt cleared, Jak became aware of two things. It was very, very angry, and he had nowhere to run... 

-----

"Where the hell is Jak?" Torn demanded. "He was supposed to wait for my orders before he decided to do anything. This isn't a playground for kiddies where he can do as he likes." 

Sig shrugged. "Got all fumed up about something, said he was going back to the transport. Rest of the team's about finished up around here, so we may as well head back there anyway." 

Torn glared at him for good measure, but decided not to push it. The Wastelander was a lot larger and more powerful than he was, and didn't have to follow Torn's orders. "Fine." 

Sig blinked, staring in the direction of the transport. "Funny, you don't get dust storms out here normally..." He reached for his binoculars and sighted down them. 

"Do we have to worry about this now?" Torn growled. "We have more important things to worry about." 

"I think we need to worry about this! That thing's the biggest Metalhead I've ever laid eyes on!!" 

"What?!" Torn grabbed the binoculars and aimed them at the dust storm, enlarging it until it became- "A Metalhead?!" The behemoth resembled the small, scorpion-like Metalheads they were used to, except it was a lot larger and a lot meaner. Torn was willing to bet it was poisonous too, with the way his luck seemed to be going. A flash of colour drew his eyes to a smaller form in front of the monster. "That idiot..." he hissed. 

"We'd better hurry, before we need us a replacement hero," Sig commented, breaking into a run. 

"At least we might get there in time to pick up the pieces..." 

-----

Jak leapt into the air, twisting his body to arch away from the Metalhead's attack. He'd already made several attempts to back away from the monster, all of which had been foiled by the surprising speed of it. The Metalhead was unbelievably fast, and Jak had quickly found that he needed all of his physical abilities just to avoid its attacks. In one way, he was glad that firing at it would do nothing, it meant that he didn't have to try and execute these moves with his gun weighing him down. Still, it would have been nice to know that he could do _something_ to hurt it... 

"Jak!! Behind you!" Daxter screamed in his ear. 

Jak rolled sharply to his left then threw himself backwards through a series of flips. He was starting to get tired, fatigue was beginning to burn at his muscles. The dust wasn't helping him either, meaning he had to rely on Daxter to warn him if anything came his way suddenly. 

"Jak! Jak! Jak!! RIGHT!!!" 

Muscles bunched and fired the hero and his companion into the air, while a spin managed to lift them just over the flailing Metalhead limb. Jak wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up with the creature's movements. The dust rising around them had veiled his vision, making it almost impossible for Jak to find any possible escape routes, while also filling his mouth with its gritty taste. Every breath Jak took was laden with the choking particles. He didn't have enough time to pull up his face-cloth either, meaning he had to put up with the clouds of dirt caused by the Metalhead's flailing. A fighter's nightmare, half blind and barely able to breathe against an opponent who had no such problems... 

And didn't the thing have a tail? 

He threw himself sideways just in time, narrowly missing becoming hero shish-kebab on the stinger. 

"Doesn't this thing get tired?!" Jak coughed, while Daxter groaned in his ear. 

"Fighting against you? I'm surprised it hasn't died of boredom yet." Came a sarcastic voice, one which Jak knew too well. 

"Torn," he groaned, "When did you decide to join the party?" 

Torn scowled and heaved Jak to his feet. "We don't have time for this, Sig is distracting it with his Peacemaker. I suggest we get out of here before he runs out of ammo." 

Jak dragged a hand across his eyes, transferring the dirt from it onto his face. "Sig? But that thing could kill him!" 

"It could kill us too, unless we get out of here, or unless you happen to have a cannon hidden on you somewhere, Jak. Jak!!" 

Jak ignored Torn's voice as he ran back towards the Metalhead. He mighn't have a cannon, but he did have some rather deadly firepower... 

"Jak! We're going the wrong way!" Daxter yelled from beside Jak's ear. "We've got to turn around and get to the transport! Sig can handle it! He did fine against that other giant Metalhead!" 

"Not this time Dax." Jak answered as he stopped a short distance behind the Metalhead, hoping it wouldn't notice them until it was too late. "You go back, but I have unfinished business..." 

Jak closed his eyes, oblivious to Daxter's nervous stare, and reached out for his internal store of Dark Eco and the anger that boiled just below the surface. He could _feel_ the changes, and even while he had never seen what his body became when he changed, he knew what it felt like. Rage. The rage he'd kept bottled up inside of him, anger at the Baron, anger at Keira, anger at everything, it all came bubbling over, a red-hot tingling layer just underneath his skin. He could feel it working with the Eco, sharpening his senses, his reflexes and increasing his power. The rage seemed to build in his body until it felt as though he were an inferno, fire storm restrained only by his own flimsy skin. Jak felt the scream tear free from his lips as his hands clawed at his temples, desperately trying to alleviate the pressure. Then the pressure died, and Jak felt the rage take a different form and push him down into the darkness. 

-----

Daxter was surprised that his claws hadn't ripped through Jak's protection plate, with the way he was gripping it. After all, it was bad enough that Jak had decided to go after the Metalhead, but then he had to do this as well?! Daxter was just thankful that he'd gone the bathroom before they'd come here... 

It was just that… The _other_ Jak, Dark Jak, was... uncontrollable. Most of the time Daxter had been able to get Jak away from the area before he realized what he was seeing, but other times... Daxter knew why Jak screamed at night, often weeks afterwards, and visions of blood-splattered rooms and twisted corpses invaded both their dreams. Jak had never seemed to notice that Daxter was always there to chase away the nightmares, and never seemed to ask himself how Daxter had known what those dreams had been. Because Jak didn't know that on those nights, and sometimes for weeks afterwards, Daxter couldn't sleep for fear of the horrible predictions his dreams would bring. 

Daxter knew this, knew more than anyone what the other Jak could do, and would do, as often as he could, while twisting Jak's beautiful face into a parody of his smiles, hitting and hitting and hitting, well beyond the point when there was nothing left to hit besides meat and gore, and Daxter would cling to his shoulder and hope to anything that might be listening that Dark Jak didn't notice him... 

Every time having to see _his_ Jak writhe as the other one took his body over, using it like a puppet, before throwing it back, soaked in blood and seeping darkness, as all the while it fed the nightmares that would come that night. 

But still Jak let himself be used, let that monster take control of his form and wreak havoc on all those around him, and the only reason Daxter could think of was that Jak thought he _deserved_ to be used... 

It was here, the other Jak. Dark Jak. Already in control, was the transition becoming faster? Daxter wasn't certain, he just hunkered down and hoped that he wouldn't be noticed, that Jak wouldn't have to wake up and find a limp ottsel body laying there. 

Dark Jak was looking at the Metalhead, now attempting to get closer to Sig to prevent him from using the Peacemaker. Daxter risked a glance at his face, and saw that it was grinning, stretching Jak's mouth into an insane grin, wider than Daxter would have thought possible. 'I don't want to see Jak like this...' Daxter thought, but couldn't move his eyes away. 

The grin somehow managed to widen even more, and Dark Jak burst into motion. Daxter clung frantically to the shoulder guard as they raced along the ground, the dust flying around them and choking his lungs, then Dark Jak threw Jak's body into a huge leap, catching the top of a leg with his fingertips before flinging the two of them up onto the broad back of the Metalhead. 

Daxter had just enough time to think that this time they would definitely die before they were moving again, this time towards the Metalhead's skull. 'He's going to do a full-on attack! We're not going to make it out alive!!' 

And they were there, the skull gem gleaming bright enough to light up the area, and Dark Jak was laughing, though Daxter didn't remember hearing him start, and the Metalhead knew where they were... 

-----

Torn cursed loudly when Sig appeared by his side, well away from the Metalhead. "Where's Jak?!" he shouted around his mouthpiece. 

"Isn't he with you?" Sig called back, his voice slightly muffled by the dust-cloth shrouding the lower half of his face. 

"That idiot ran back into the melee! We don't have time to save his sorry ass, we have to go now!" 

Sig growled. "I am not leaving him hanging in there! We owe him, hell, the city owes him more than that!" 

"Fine! Run in and die your heroic little death, it won't matter either way if the city falls because I wasn't there to protect it!" Torn glared at the Wastelander before turning to leave. "I have more important things to attend to." 

A blaze of purple light froze him in his tracks, and Torn turned back to see the dust distorting the light into bizarre shapes. "What the-" 

Then it hit him. The source of light had to be... Jak. Or, more specifically, Dark Jak. He'd heard the stories and rumours. While a lot of them differed, they all agreed on a few basic details, eyes like the pits of hell, inhuman strength and the purple lightning that surrounded it. But, Torn had thought they were just that, stories. After all, no person could really change into a monster, capable of tearing Guards apart with its bare hands, could they? 

Torn glanced at Sig, and the two of them ran deeper into the dust cloud. 

"What is going on?" Torn yelled as they headed deeper. 

"I don't know!" came the reply, "I ain't never seen nothing like this before!" 

Torn stopped as close as he dared to the Metalhead, training his binoculars around the form to try and locate the wayward hero. But the movement he finally noticed came instead from the creature's head. 

"He really is insane..." Torn breathed. 

Jak, but it couldn't be Jak, the skin and hair were all wrong, was driving his fingers deep into a crevice in the armour at the back of the Metalhead's skull, black blood already welling up around his arms. The purple light was emanating from Jak's, Dark Jak's, body, coursing down his arms to strike deeper into the Metalhead's flesh. The Metalhead itself was already writhing as it tried to rid itself of the painful thing on its head, but Dark Jak was grinning and laughing as he drove his arms in further, ripping away the flesh around the gap in order to reach ever deeper. 

The Metalhead was really struggling now, its legs and tail flailing around as Dark Jak drove more electricity into it's body, interfering with the nerves of the Metalhead's body. 

"What... what kind of monster did the Baron make?" Torn glanced at Sig, the colour starting to seep from his face as Dark Jak drove his arms fully into the beast and gave it one final charge of power. 

"Whatever it is, we'd better be careful. It's about to come down..." Sig said, tightening his grip on his Peacemaker, though he had no shots left, and he doubted he'd be fast enough to bludgeon Jak down... 

Dark Jak ripped his arms free from the Metalhead and threw himself into the air in one sinuous movement. The Metalhead's legs buckled as the last of the energy fried its nervous system, and it hit the ground with a visible shudder, Dark Jak landing in front of it a moment later. He raised his head slowly and smirked at Torn, face splattered with blood and arms drenched in gore. He flicked a tongue out cat-like to lap at a few drops of blood around his mouth. 

Torn noted Daxter's quivering form on Dark Jak's shoulder. If Jak's closest 'friend' was terrified of this thing, then obviously it didn't care who or what you were. He wrinkled his nose slightly at the smell of the Metalhead's blood but remained silent; everything about this new Jak suggested a predator ready to spring... 

Both Sig and Torn raised their guns instinctively when Dark Jak suddenly clutched his hands to his head, leaving twin bloody marks in Jak's hair. It almost seemed like the thing was in pain... Torn's eyes widened for a moment as the deathly pale skin took on a normal tone, hair returned to bedraggled, blonde-green locks, and those cold, unfeeling eyes became the blue they were more familiar with. Even Daxter relaxed, sliding off Jak's shoulder with a whimper, the remains of the Metalhead still convulsing a short distance away. 

"Well, it looks like you bagged yourself another monster there, boy!" Sig said, obviously trying to reassure himself that this Jak wasn't dangerous. 

Torn watched Jak with distrust written on his face, the boy seemed rather out of it, still trying to realize what had happened to him. A shadow passed over Torn's face, and he looked up- 

"Get out of the way!!" 

The Metalhead's tail slammed into the ground, as Torn threw himself sideways, dust exploding into the air once again. Once certain that the movements of the Metalhead had stopped for the time being, Torn stood and risked a look around. The dust was still clearing, and he could hear at least two other voices besides his own coughing. Swallowing forcefully to try and clear his mouth of the dust, he called, "Everyone in one piece?" 

"Still here," came Sig's voice, "though I'm starting to regret it." 

"I'm OK!" Torn figured that the weasel would have survived, it seemed like nothing short of a direct missile hit could hurt him. 

"And Jak?" 

Catching a movement to his left, Torn squinted his eyes trying to make out what it was. "Well?" 

"Uhhh.. you'd better... you'd better come and see.." 

-----

Jak groaned and opened his eyes. Dust clouded a lot of his view, as did several other more solid things, though he wasn't sure what they were. He thought he could hear someone talking, but it seemed pretty vague and distant and probably didn't matter at the moment. 

The pain hit like a zoomer on full-speed. 

It left Jak gasping for air, shapes suddenly becoming sharper, and voices becoming clearer. 

"Jak! Y-you're alive!" Daxter's face hovered above him, it seemed really relieved, though Jak wasn't sure why. Maybe if the pain went away, he'd be able to think about it better. 

"Dax?" It seemed to be all he could manage at the moment. 

"Yeah buddy. Torn and Sig are here too, and you're going to be fine, ok? All you have to do is stay awake..." Jak blinked, his mind was still fuzzy, and the pain screamed like a banshee, but it seemed to him that Daxter was crying. Without thinking, Jak raised his arm to wipe at the tears, but the shriek and roar of pain flooded his mind, and sent coughs racking through his body. 

The coughing stopped, and Jak was aware that his mouth was filled with blood, and that there was something terribly wrong with his chest. Daxter was crying harder now, tears leaving tracks through his orange fur and landing in the dirt beside Jak. 

"Dax..." He felt cold now, horribly cold. And more tired than he'd ever been. Jak let his head roll a little to the side, and found that he was lying in a small pool of mud. Deep crimson mud. 

Jak blinked back up at Daxter, and started to turn his head the other way, towards the source of pain. Daxter tried to stop him, but a glance was all Jak needed. He remembered now, the falling Metalhead's tail, flailing in the throes of death, then the horrible piercing pain in his chest... 

The stinger on the end of the tail was driven deep into the ground, but it had passed through Jak's chest first. The crimson mud... 

"Daxter. I'm tired and my blood... it's so cold. Why am I so... cold?" His voice was choked and strained, barely a pained whisper that sent agony rolling through his torso. 

Daxter shook his head silently, dropping more glistening tears to the earth. Torn lowered his communicator and looked down at Jak. 

"Medics should be here soon. Lucky we had some with us. If they get here fast enough, they can save his life. Otherwise, they can clean up what's left." 

Daxter glared at Torn and opened his mouth, but Jak didn't get to hear his words as a tide of pain and blissful silence washed over him.

----- 

whimpers Please, no hurting Keskes, please?   
  



	6. chapter 6

Chapter 6

I know, it's INCREDIBLY late! I'm so sorry! (People really need to throw things at me more to make me write) I'll try my bestest to keep this updating semi-regularly, if people promise to keep reading it. Remember, only a couple of reviews per chapter make Keskes not very likely to want to write more! (Cause what's the point of writing when people don't read, ne?) 

Anyway, this is basically an inbetween chapter to see how many of you are still paying attention to this, and to get people back up to scratch with it. I have most of the next part planned out, so it shouldn't take too much to get it written out. Because this is a small-update chapter, I haven't really had it beta-ed as much as I should (that and I lost contact details for my wonderful beta-reader...), so please forgive me! bows 

As always, reviews are a gift for writers, and lack of them starves creativity. ;;

-

Daxter stared with rising panic at the still growing pool of blood around Jak. He wasn't sure if he was grateful or terrified when he noticed Jak had blacked out, grateful that he wasn't suffering any more pain, and terrified that he wouldn't wake up again. 

"There's got to be something..." the ottsel whimpered, his eyes still locked on Jak's. 

"You can't do anything until the medic team arrives." Torn said tersely, sweeping the horizon again with his eyes. "And seeing as it's difficult to navigate in this place, especially due to collapses in the Metalhead Nest site, that could be a while." 

Daxter whirled on the other man, tail bristling with anger. "Dammit Torn! Don't you care about anything! Jak.. he's dying... and all you do is STAND there!" 

Torn's eyes narrowed. "I don't care.." he said, then turned the full force of his glare on Daxter, causing the ottsel to shrink back. "Who said you could judge who cares for what? Of course I care! Jak is a good friend, a valuable worker and we've been through a lot together, but standing around wailing that he's dead, _when he isn't_, won't make things any better! What we need right now is for you to shut up, and hope to the Precursors that that medic team gets here before you really have something to cry about." 

Daxter recoiled as though Torn had slapped him, finding that for once his witty comebacks and lightning fast answers had deserted him. He returned his attention to Jak, only to see his friend's eyelids flickering open. "He's waking up!" 

Torn glanced down, "Better try and keep him awake, at least you'll know he's alive then." 

Daxter nodded and smiled a huge, slightly panicked, grin. "Hey Jak, old buddy," he began nervously, "This ain't so bad is it? I mean, you can shake this off no problem! We took down Kor and all..." 

Jak coughed again, the movement wrenched at the large spike still fixing him to the ground and caused him to scream in pain. Blood splattered Daxter's fur, but he barely noticed. The small ottsel was seized with the sudden desire to rip the offending piece of Metalhead from Jak's torso, as though the action would somehow make everything better. 

"Dax.." Jak gasped when the coughing stopped, "My bag... the Eco..." 

Daxter could have kicked himself right then. The Eco! There was Green Eco in there, Jak could use it to at least stop himself from dying. "I'll be right back, buddy." Daxter said, racing to where he hoped the bag had landed. He vaguely recalled flinging it to the side when the Metalhead struck, mostly because Daxter was clinging to the bag, and sharp claws caught in coarse fabric took a while to remove. Now he was glad he hadn't ripped free of the thing when he'd jumped. 

He just hoped the Eco was all right. 

A dust-colored bag in dust-colored dust proved difficult to find, and Daxter was twice as frantic, all the while he was searching, a little voice in the back of his mind was telling him exactly how long Jak had been lying like that, and how much longer he would be able to hang on... 

There! Daxter dove for the bag, and dragged it back to Jak's side. It was then he became aware of a conversation going on over his head. 

"Where the hell is the Medic Team?" Torn growled down the communicator, "I've got a man dying here! Look, I don't care how many injured you have, get here now or you're all Metalhead meat!" Torn snapped the communicator closed, then glanced at Daxter. "What's that for?" 

"Jak wanted it." Daxter said, "Green Eco can help keep him alive, right?" 

Jak swallowed and licked his lips before rolling his eyes to look at Daxter. "Is that... the Eco?" His voice sounded harsh and pained. Daxter nodded, and ripped open the fastenings on the bag, revealing the Eco cargo within. Several of the containers had shattered, Daxter noticed, but there was still a decent amount of Eco. More than enough Green Eco to keep Jak alive. 

"Here you go, buddy." Daxter said as he pried open a container. "This'll help at bit.." 

"Th..anks." 

"Hey, wait a minute!" Daxter protested as Jak grabbed the container from his paws, but his friend was already pouring the green, life-giving substance over himself. Jak gave a little sigh, and dragged the bag to his side. 

"I need to finish this.." he muttered. 

Daxter didn't know what was going on as Jak, gasping and choking from the pain, reached into the bag for the remaining containers, ripping the lids from them and allowing the substances to flow into his body. 

"Jak! You only needed Green Eco! Jak!" Daxter yelled, but Jak ignored him as blue, red, green and yellow sparks danced across his body. Torn stared, but he obviously knew little about the other Ecos, and seemed unsure about what to do. 

Jak let out a sigh as the last container of shining blue slid into him. "I had forgotten..." he whispered. "Daxter... I need.. before this energy fades..." 

"Jak?" Daxter placed his paws on Jak's arm. They looked so small in comparison. His ears drooped a little. "You can't go... I need you." 

Jak chuckled, but it quickly became another fit of pained coughing, more blood sprinkling on Daxter's fur. Jak reached out carefully and brushed Daxter's ears tenderly. "I said... wasn't finished yet..." The Eco sparks spun faster, becoming more and more agitated. Torn stepped back as large charges of raw Eco energy earthed themselves near his feet, but when Daxter tried to move back, he found Jak's fingers gently but firmly holding him in place. 

"J..Jak?" 

The sparks were gone now, replaced by much larger bolts of Eco energy, dancing over Jak in the exact same way the Dark Eco did. Daxter whimpered, but Jak's face remained locked in a gaze of intense concentration. A couple of the Eco bolts seemed to brush each other, and this triggered all of them to begin interweaving in a complex pattern above Jak's torso. The pattern began to compress rapidly becoming brighter and brighter until Daxter found he could no longer watch the display and keep his eyesight. 

"Jak! You shouldn't be doing this!" Daxter screamed, though outside of a faint, yet building humming, the Eco energy was eerily silent. "JAAAAAAKKK!" 

The Eco had shrunk to the size of normal Eco globes, blinding white in color, and was sliding across Jak's ruined chest and down his arm. Daxter yelled and lost all composure, clawing and biting frantically to escape as the new Eco came towards him. He tasted blood in his mouth for the second time that day, when the created Eco surged forward and earthed itself painfully in his head. 

Blinding light filled Daxter to the brim, blocking out all sights, sounds, feelings and even the taste of Jak's blood. The white light became everything, no longer painful, but a deep persistent throbbing that matched his heartbeat. It soothed his body, and Daxter felt it reach deep inside of him, finding something that he felt he should remember, but had almost forgotten and _pulled-_

Daxter's body was on fire, he could feel the fur burn away from his skin, feel his flesh melting off the bones and heard the horrible cracking as his bones themselves shattered from the heat. _'So this is how it ends. I always thought it would be... different.'_

Daxter stumbled forward on legs he didn't have, heard the voice of Torn, caught between panic and remaining calm as he told the medics what to do, and knew that the painful eternity had been a single moment in time. Knew that Jak was still dying, but he could no longer be there for him. 

Daxter fell into darkness, while knowing that when he woke, his friend would be gone. 

-


End file.
